Chasing Lance: The 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's Ride of a Lifetime

In Chasing Lance, acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Martin Dugard tells the extraordinary story of Lance Armstrong's final race, guiding us on a 2,240-mile journey through the French countryside, up the rugged peaks of the Pyrenees, all the way to one final ride down the Champs-Elysées. Never before has the Tour de France been captured so fully and vividly. We are there among the rabid fans as they cheer riders on; in the frenzied media room, where journalists plot to score an interview with the fiercely private Armstrong; and deep inside the heart of the peloton as the Discovery team's top lieutenants sacrifice themselves to protect their leader. Dugard was granted the most exclusive press credential offered by the Tour's organizers, so he had total access to the riders, their teams, the courses, and the back rooms. As a result it's all here: the daring breakaways and heartbreaking crashes, the mind games and the intense competition, the strategy and the courage. We see Lance Armstrong's fearsome drive, his jubilation when his most loyal teammate wins a stage, and his rocky relationships with young, up-and-coming American riders. But Chasing Lance is not just an account of Armstrong's triumph. Dugard gives us the full Tour, from the yellow jersey up front to the strugglers who finish last; from the quiet countryside to the Paris pavement; from the lavender fields of Provence to the fields of drunken tourists who have come not only to see if Lance can win one last time, but to consume as much fine wine and cheese as possible-an endurance contest of a different sort. A gripping portrait of a champion at sunset, an illuminating exploration of what it means to persevere-on the road and in life-and a vibrant journey through France, Chasing Lance takes us to the Tour, and inside the mind of Lance Armstrong, like no other book ever has.